For The Young Entrepreneurs Of The World: A Contemporary Guide To 'Making Good'

 

When something attracts praise that ranges from Van Jones to the Freelancers Union to Forbes, our ears perk up. When that something turns out to be a new book co-authored by Billy Parish, the Yale dropout turned Energy Action Coalition founder, we really start paying attention. When the title of that book is Making Good: Finding Meaning, Money, and Community in a Changing World, we're pretty much sold. Who doesn't want to do meaningful, world-changing work while also making money?

Hot off the press from Rodale Books, Making Good is the result of three years of research, interviews and analysis by Parish and his fellow co-author Dev Aujla, with the goal of outlining "step by step how any person can achieve financial autonomy, capitalize on global changes to infrastructure, and learn from everyday success stories—providing the skills and insights this generation needs to succeed." Dubbing itself as the "What Color Is Your Parachute? for the Facebook generation," the book has also been compared to 1989 self-help tome The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Job-seeking and self-help books can often be empty marketing ploys or unhelpful volumes of outdated advice, but Making Good promises to be different. The Facebook generation has everything constantly at its collective fingertips, and maybe Making Good is just the sort of guidebook needed to help see the forest for the trees. "This book cuts through the illusion of the quick fix and offers real solutions to help you create a life that both makes money and changes the world," says Freelancers Union president Sara Horowitz. Sounds like it's worth a read to us.

For an idea of what you'll find in Making Good, check out this Huffington Post article by Billy Parish and this Forbes article.

-- John Ruscher

Required Reading // The New Sincerity: Fortnight Journal On Rethinking Industry In America

At 3rd Ward, we're always thrilled to encounter people who share similar visions and passions. It's not surprising then that we were quite taken by this article published by Fortnight Journal back in December.

Written by Brooklyn-based furniture designer Timothy Aaron Huston, "A New Sincerity," reflects upon the burgeoning movement toward products and goods that are locally-sourced, hand-crafted and environmentally friendly. He explores the forces behind this shift, including a rejection of the globalism that has dominated the past few decades:

Many people close to my age are idealistic, and do not like the stifling office environments that economists and industry leaders expected them to inhabit. Not content with prefab cubicle culture—like the rebellious Generation X, yet rejecting sarcasm and irony—we love seeing how things are made. There is a sense of wonder in this for those of us raised on processed food, far away from the farms, workshops and factories that make things. You cannot see process in a McDonalds, Wal-Mart or IKEA. My generation wants to see the plants grown, feed the animals, knit the socks, and sand the wood. We desire to get as close to the process as possible.

He also talks about the many benefits of opting for such a local, hands-on approach to industry, from higher quality materials and service to the ability to meet LEED standards and the face-to-face relationships and interactions that that such an environment fosters.

Ultimately, Huston concludes, this growing movement revolves around one word:

"Respect" is a key word in the newer business model of my generation. We strive to be well respected, and to be respectful to those with whom we work, as well as the environment around us.

We celebrate how something is made, and that we can make good things! Honest materials are respectfully and ethically procured. Products are crafted for a receptive and engaged audience who experience resonance. This is our new sincerity.

Couldn't have said it better ourselves. Make sure to read the entire article and check out the rest of Fortnight, a daily online journal that "uses multimedia content to document the promise of the millennial generation."

-- John Ruscher